Above, a color photo of a long horse. Note that it is much longer than the horses shown in the black and white photos. This is because in later years, unethical breeders were breeding longer and longer horses. Eventually, their spines gave out, leading to the extinction of the breed. (Thanks for the image, Hudson!)

If you would like to become a member of the International Long Horse Breeders Association (ILHBA), place your palm against your computer display and read the following out loud in front of two witnesses:

As a initiate to the International Long Horse Breeders Association (ILHBA) I do hereby solemnly swear to uphold the following rules:

1. Before I die, I will go forth on a two-year mission to seek out a sample of long horse DNA for the purposes of cloning a long horse for the purpose of repopulating the planet with these magnificent animals.

2. When long horses once again grace our planet in abundant numbers, I will follow strict guidelines regarding their humane treatment, especially the one stipulating the limitation of strapping on one saddle per linear 18 inches of long horse.

3. Unless I am a bona-fide member of the ILHBA Lamarck Research Laboratory (LRL), I will not attempt to create a long horse by stretching an ordinary horse.

4. I will report any instance of a ILHBA member attempting to pass off a dachshund as a "miniature long horse."

We're aghast. And we ask ourselves how the doubters refuse to believe in the long horse when so many have marveled at its elegance (and wept at its demise).
But we may have the answer. Conspirators are afoot! And they mean to eradicate our beloved long horse from the collective memory.
One hour ago, I received the above photograph in an anonymous email, along with the terse statement: "here's more proof for you... ha! bastard!"

It's insane that some people are trying to say they never existed. I suppose these are the same people who say that just because there aren't dinosaurs walking around today they never existed either. One of the reasons this is so interesting in that, at least here in the US, Long Horses hold a dear place in our history since the first President of the United States, George Washington not only owned a Long Horse but it was his mount of choice. In fact he rode it so often that many portraits and images of him show his trust Long Horse with him.